Ashley Youth Detention Centre bureaucrat examined over management of centre

An Ashley Youth Detention Centre worker accused of a historic sexual assault of a detainee allegedly kept working at the centre 30 years later and was strip-searching children.

AN ASHLEY worker accused of a historic sexual assault of a detainee allegedly kept working at the centre 30 years later and was strip-searching children.

On Friday, the child sexual abuse commission of inquiry heard from a bureaucrat at the top of the Ashley Youth Detention Centre chain, and canvassed allegations that a whistleblower was discouraged from telling police about the worker in question, Lester*.

Pamela Honan, the Director of Custodial Youth Justice, is the link between Ashley’s centre management and the Department of Communities.

She told the inquiry that she was first alerted about the allegations against Lester by a staff member, Alysha.

Ms Honan said she didn’t act on the allegation itself but provided the details to the department, adding she expected Lester to be stood down in a timely manner.

But Lester continued working at Ashley for “many months”, with the department “still making enquiries” about whether there were any corroborating records.

“Given that this was the first time that this department had been faced with this, with the value of hindsight we probably would have done – or the agency would have done – things very differently,” she said.

Counsel assisting the commission, Rachel Ellyard, said Alysha claimed Ms Honan told her there needed to be an internal investigation “and that you don’t go reporting matters to the police willy-nilly”.

Pamela Honan Director, Custodial Youth Justice, Department of Communities. Commission of Inquiry in Hobart. Picture: supplied/screenshot of livestream

Ms Honan said she didn’t recall saying that.

She also said she couldn’t recall telling Alysha “not to report it to the police herself”.

“She wanted to report to police; she was discouraged from doing that until there was an opportunity to discuss it and to understand what had occurred and then determine where to from there,” she said.

Ms Honan also said she couldn’t recall describing Alysha as “hysterical” and that what she said “should be taken with a grain of salt”.

She was also questioned about the notorious Franklin unit, which was at one time seemingly controlled by two long-term residents, Albert* and Finn*.

Ms Honan agreed staff were intimidated by the pair, who had a say in who would staff their unit.

She said she wasn’t aware of claims that children would sometimes be placed in Franklin “with the expectation that Albert and Finn would influence and control their behaviour”.

She said on one occasion, when the pair tried to sexually assault a boy with a water bottle, their behaviour was later “minimised” by a centre report as “horsing around”.

The attempted sexual assault was also reported by Alysha.

Alysha is expected to give evidence at the commission of inquiry next week.

* Name anonymised by the commission of inquiry.

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